TANKER CREW STRANDED OFF SHARJAH TELL OF YEAR-LONG WAIT TO GET HOME
▶ Dispute over MT Zoya 1 traps men without pay or prospect of moving on
Desperate sailors have described being trapped on a supertanker 17 kilometres off the coast of the UAE because of a legal dispute involving the ship’s owners.
Sixteen Indian and Pakistani crew have been on the 330-metre MT Zoya 1 for up to a year, awaiting coastguard clearance to come ashore.
Because of an unspecified legal dispute with the owners of the vessel, the crew have been mostly unpaid since December and have been given no information about when they will be rescued from the ship.
Although the crew is receiving regular fresh supplies, they say they are not being allowed to leave until all disputes have been settled.
Lawyers acting for the ship’s owners say MT Zoya 1 has been unlawfully detained outside port limits after a claim filed at Sharjah courts by a Swiss bank.
The legal claim relates to an unpaid loan by a third party, but the parties involved said they could not discuss the matter further while it is in court.
Charterers Avantgarde Petroleum, part of ECB International, the ship’s owners, said it was trying to support the men and hoped to have the arrest order lifted soon.
Because the ship is anchored outside the UAE’s immigration jurisdiction, a crew change has not been possible.
Tensions are running high, with Chief Officer Okram Benaral, 39, struggling to maintain order under the psychological strain of being trapped at sea for months on end.
“The ship is not moving anywhere, all we can do is eat and sleep,” said Mr Benaral, from Manipur in India.
“The men have completed their contracts but some have been on here more than a year. No one wants to be here.
“We are getting mentally sick and the men are fighting each other. Some are crying and getting desperate, they are under much stress. It’s a very big problem; we just want to go home.”
Very large crude carriers, or supertankers, are the largest operating cargo ships in the world with dead-weight often greater than 250,000 tonnes.
They are primarily used for long-haul crude oil transport from the Arabian Gulf to Europe, Asia and North America, and can cost up to US$120 million (Dh440.8m), depending on the ship’s age and condition.
MT Zoya 1 was not thought to be loaded with cargo at the time it anchored off Sharjah.
“My children are 2 and 1, and I left after my youngest son was born, so I hardly know him,” said Mr Benaral, who said he was owed about $32,000 (Dh117,520) in unpaid salary.
Second engineer Sayed Nawab Ali, 33, from Karachi, has been on board MT Zoya 1 for seven months, and said he is owed about $24,000 in pay.
“There are problems with the ship’s engine, so we are unable to move,” he said. “The company needs to take the vessel into the dry dock for repairs but until they have resolved the legal dispute the coastguard will not allow us to come ashore.
“All our documents have been taken by the coastguard and the ship has been arrested until the matter between the owners and the Sharjah court is resolved.
“Staying at just one place at sea is very difficult and a couple of crew have tried to commit suicide by jumping into the sea.
“It is very difficult psychologically for all of us as we haven’t seen our families in months.”
The vessel has been anchored off Sharjah since October 2016, according to crew.
Supplies on board are regularly being topped up by the ship’s management but so far crew have been unable to disembark.
Most of the crew say they are owed money for their work, increasing tensions and putting strain on families reliant on their income.
“We have done nothing wrong,” said Mr Ali, who should be paid $6,000 a month but has not been paid since November.
Lawyers for charterers Avantgarde Petroleum said they were aware of the situation on board.
“We are facing very difficult times,” said a legal consultant for the company. “Not much care and consideration has been given to the people on board, although we are managing their livelihood it will not stop the crew, their families and us from being worried about their lives on board.
“We cannot repair the engine because the head owner is currently not in a financial position to pay out more money.
“We have diverted funds from our other sources and have been providing the amenities and salary to the crew. Unfortunately, we have also become the victims of this dispute, and as second defendants have objected to this case and the arrest of the crew and the vessel.
“We anticipate to have the vessel arrest revoked and are endeavouring to have the crew’s salary matter resolved at the very earliest.”
In September, after a spate of similar disputes that left seafarers stranded at sea, the Indian consul general said it was the responsibility of the ship’s agent to arrange a sign-off from the vessel to allow crew to leave, in most cases.
Capt Anand, of Aurum Ship Management, which is managing the vessel while it is in UAE waters, said the payments for
MT Zoya 1 crew should be resolved soon. “The crew will be paid within a day or two, maybe a week,” he said.